Our Picture Archive currently contains more than 28,000 images, most of them in colour. Just under half of these come from the CVMA's own archive of c.30,000 images housed at the National Monuments Record (now managed by Historic England) in Swindon, which were scanned by HEDS Digitisation Services during a pilot project in 1999 (3,500 images) and the 2001–2004 project to build a database and website (9,000 images). The British Corpus Vitrearum continues to add images to its archive, including those created in the context of its print projects (e.g., the glass at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), as well as others from collections of national significance. As well as images of medieval stained glass, the database also holds a digital version of the Birkin Haward collection of Victorian stained glass in Norfolk and parts of Suffolk. The Picture Archive also gives access to the ground-plans for nearly 200 churches, supplied courtesy of the former Lambeth Palace Church Plans On-Line (images now accessed through the online Lambeth Palace Library Collections) project.

Our search interface enables users to search for images on a number of different criteria, including location, window number, part of building, etc. (Note that images do not have metadata in all categories.)

The Downloads page makes available an important selection of out-of-print and unpublished works.

The east window of Gloucester Cathedral is one of the most important works of medieval glazing in the country; we provide a restoration history (L. Seliger, 'A History of Repairs to the Stained Glass in the Great East Window of Gloucester Cathedral', MA thesis (University of York, 2001)), and a panel-numbering system for the window. For the complex fenestration of Lincoln Cathedral we provide a concordance of the various window-numbering systems that have been used, and plans of the lower and upper levels with CVMA window numbers. There is also a panel-numbering system for the west window of Winchester Cathedral.

Access is provided to two important theses. Firstly, Alison Gilchrist's MA thesis '“The tears wept by our windows”: severe paint loss from stained glass windows of the mid-nineteenth century' (University of York, 2010). The aim of this study is to investigate the phenomenon of severe paint loss from windows of the mid- to late nineteenth century, commonly known as the 'borax problem'. Focussing on three case study windows made by Hardman & Co. of Birmingham and installed at Sherborne Abbey, Beverley Minster and All Saints' Church Emscote, the study addresses historical, technical and conservation aspects of severe paint loss. Ever since it was written, Peter Newton's doctoral thesis 'Schools of Glass Painting in the Midlands 1275 – 1430' has been cited in the literature. Since the material is spread across a number of files, we have provided detailed indexes of where to find information on various sites. We are very grateful to the University of York, which gave permission for the thesis to be made available in this format, and to the copyright holders who allowed their images to be used: the British Library (for fourteen images from MS Egerton 3510, and three from Add. MS 35211); the estate of Maurice H. Ridgway (for the three images of St Mary's Hall, Coventry, for images taken by Fred Crossley); and the National Monuments Record (for the four images of St Mary's Hall, Coventry, taken for the National Buildings Record).

There are files relating to works already published by the British CVMA. Following the publication of his Catalogue of Netherlandish and North European Roundels in Britain, William Cole continued to collect materials on roundels; his archive is now at the University of York. Three documents are made available here: text Cole prepared on further roundels that were not included in the Catalogue, which was ultimately intended for publication; a transcription of the annotations Cole made in his own copy of the Catalogue; and a catalogue of his archive. Neither the text nor the annotations have been edited in any way. Furthermore, we are able to provide PDFs of Roy G. Newton's 'The Deterioration and Conservation of Painted Glass: A Critical Bibliography and Three Research Papers' (Occasional Paper I, London, 1974), and his 'The Deterioration and Conservation of Painted Glass: A Critical Bibliography' (Occasional Paper II, London, 1982).

On offer are also important papers on the conservation and restoration of stained glass. All but one of these texts are appearing here in English for the first time, and they cover a wide range of technical and aesthetic considerations. In addition to the English-language version of the guidelines agreed by the CVMA's International Committee for the Conservation of Stained Glass (approved in Nuremberg in 2004, at the 22nd International Colloquium), the reader will find an article by Ivo Rauch that introduces the general issues, and four studies covering specific technical issues from a recent, already standard work on the subject: A. Wolff (ed.), 'Restaurierung und Konservierung historischer Glasmalereien' ('The Restoration and Conservation of Historical Stained Glass'), Mainz, 2000. The studies are 'Cleaning: A Balancing Act', 'Conservation: Materials and Methods', 'Protective Glazing', and 'Science in the Service of Restoration'; these are accompanied by a bibliography. Between 1972 and 2001, the Corpus Vitrearum/Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi published newsletters, which are made available here, together with publishing information, indexes, and details of how the Newsletter relates to the British Corpus Vitrearum's Occasional Papers.

Lastly, the Downloads page includes some other items of scholarly interest. There is a piece on the establishment of the CVMA in Great Britain, as described by Mortimer Wheeler in his work 'The British Academy 1949–1968' (London, 1970), pp. 108–116. The business archives of G. King & Son, Norwich (founded 1927), were purchased by the Norfolk Record Office in 2004 (acc. 2004/53). The same year, other material relating to stained glass from the same company was purchased by the Glaziers' Trust of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers. This material was deposited on loan with the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2005. The CVMA (GB) is grateful to the Glaziers' Trust for permission to make the inventory of this material available here. The CVMA (GB) has ensured that all the medieval glazing of York's city churches has been recorded. Images and their associated metadata are available via the Picture Archive; on the Downloads page you will find a detailed bibliography, together with the tracery-numbering systems used at St Denys, St Martin-le-Grand, St Michael-le-Belfrey, St Olave, and St Saviour.

In 2006, the CVMA was awarded a special grant by the British Academy to develop a digital-publication framework in collaboration with the Centre for Computing and the Humanities at King's College, London. It was decided to offer a selection of sites from the county of Norfolk, which is especially rich in medieval stained glass, in anticipation of full publication of all sites in Norfolk in David King's 'Medieval Stained Glass of Norfolk'. It later proved difficult to maintain the digital-publication framework, so the sites offered in 2006 are provided here in PDF format, as a record of what was done, and because these texts have been cited in the scholarly literature.

Books

The following books have also been published but are not currently available via the digital archive.

Monographs

• Peter Newton, 'The County of Oxford: A Catalogue of Medieval Stained Glass', CVMA (GB), I, London, 1979
• Madeline H. Caviness, 'The Windows of Christ Church Cathedral, Canterbury', CVMA (GB), II, London, 1981
• Tom French and David O'Connor, 'York Minster: A Catalogue of Medieval Stained Glass. Fascicule 1: The West Windows of the Nave', CVMA (GB), III, Oxford, 1987
• Tim Ayers, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of Wells Cathedral', CVMA (GB), IV, Oxford, 2004
• David King, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of St Peter Mancroft, Norwich', CVMA (GB), V, Oxford, 2006
• Tim Ayers, The Medieval Stained Glass of Merton College, Oxford, CVMA (GB), VI, Oxford, 2013
• Isabelle Lecocq and Yvette Vanden Bemden, The Stained Glass of Herkenrode Abbey, CVMA (GB), VII, Oxford, 2021

Summary Catalogues

• William Cole, 'A Catalogue of Netherlandish and North European Roundels in Britain', CVMA (GB), Summary Catalogue 1, Oxford, 1993
• Tom French, 'York Minster: The Great East Window', CVMA (GB), Summary Catalogue 2, Oxford, 1995 (paperback edn 2003)
• Penny Hebgin-Barnes, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of the County of Lincolnshire', CVMA (GB), Summary Catalogue 3, Oxford, 1996
• Richard Marks, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of Northamptonshire', CVMA (GB), Summary Catalogue 4, Oxford, 1998
• Tom French, 'York Minster: The St William Window', CVMA (GB), Summary Catalogue 5, Oxford, 1999
• Kerry Ayre, 'Medieval English Figurative Roundels', CVMA (GB), Summary Catalogue 6, Oxford, 2002
• Brian Sprakes, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of South Yorkshire', CVMA (GB), Summary Catalogue 7, Oxford, 2003
• Penny Hebgin-Barnes, The Medieval Stained Glass of Lancashire, CVMA (GB), Summary Catalogue 8, Oxford, 2009
• Penny Hebgin-Barnes, The Medieval Stained Glass of Cheshire, CVMA (GB), Summary Catalogue 9, Oxford, 2010
• Brian Sprakes, The Medieval Stained Glass of West Yorkshire, CVMA (GB), Summary Catalogue 10, Oxford, 2023

Other Publications

• Hilary Wayment, 'The Windows of King's College Chapel', Cambridge, CVMA (GB), Supplementary Volume I, London, 1972
• Roy G. Newton, 'The Deterioration and Conservation of Painted Glass: A Critical Bibliography and Three Research Papers', CVMA (GB), Occasional Paper I, London, 1974 (available on the Downloads page)
• Roy G. Newton, 'The Deterioration and Conservation of Painted Glass: A Critical Bibliography', CVMA (GB), Occasional Paper II, London, 1982 (available on the Downloads page)
• Nigel Morgan, 'The Medieval Painted Glass of Lincoln Cathedral', CVMA (GB), Occasional Paper III, London, 1983

In Preparation

• Heather Gilderdale Scott, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of Great Malvern Priory'
• Nigel Morgan, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of Kent, Summary Catalogue'
• David King, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of Norfolk, Summary Catalogue'
• Richard Marks, 'Windows and Wills: Glazing and Fenestration Bequests in Medieval England, Study Series, I'
• David Reid, 'The Reused Glass of York Minster, Study Series, II'
• Lisa Reilly and Mary Shepard, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of St Michael-le-Belfrey, York'
• Penny Hebgin-Barnes and Christopher Parkinson, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of Essex'
• Nigel Morgan, 'The Medieval Stained Glass of Kent'